


The Ginger Behemoth

by BonnieLass23



Series: The Ginger Behemoth and The Gangly Doctor Creature [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Cats, F/M, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 06:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21266795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonnieLass23/pseuds/BonnieLass23
Summary: Of all the things the Doctor imagined being an obstacle to his and Rose's future, it wasn't the ginger behemoth sprawled on her bed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Based on my cat, and his relationship with me, and with everyone around me.

It had started with a comment by Jackie of all people on the way back from Bad Wolf Bay, teasing Rose about having to reconcile the two men in her life now. “Bringing the Doctor back is going to be a shock for the poor dear. It’s just been the two of you at your place, you’re practically married.” It had stung, to hear that. Of course there was a part of him that had wanted for her to live that fantastic life he asked her to back in his ninth incarnation. The part he didn’t want to think about was her moving on with another man, especially now that they had a chance to have the one adventure he could never have. This was supposed to be their happy ending after all. The Doctor and Rose together in the TARDIS, once he’d shatterfied the plasmic shell, as it should be.

Of all the possible identities of the man Rose was practically married to, that had run through his mind, nothing could have prepared him for what awaited him back at Rose’s place. A ginger, because of course he had to be ginger, behemoth sprawled on Rose’s bed.

Doctor Puff

Jackie’s apparently brilliant idea of a name for the fat cat that had walked in through an open door one afternoon and made himself at home. A name that Tony found funny enough that they decided to keep it. The relief at finding out that the apparent man in Rose’s life was actually a cat had lasted less than a night. While Rose was in the bathroom the Doctor attempted to reason with his new housemate. 

“Listen, I understand you’ve been in Rose’s life for a few years, and even though I’m not really a cat person, well when I say not a cat person it’s more cats that run hospitals with secret human experiments, but as long as you don’t go putting on a nun’s wimple, I’m willing to make this work if you are. So what do you say Puff? Think there’s room in Rose’s life for two Doctors?” 

Doctor Puff apparently did not

The first night the Doctor had slept on the couch, in part because Doctor Puff refused to give up his side of the bed. Since when did cat’s get a side of the bed anyway? But when the Doctor awoke the next morning it was to a slap across the face. The ginger behemoth perched on his chest and glaring at him, a low growl filling his ears. The Doctor had faced down daleks, cyberman, the literal devil, and yet nothing was more terrifying in that moment than Doctor Puff, claws flexed just enough that he could feel them prick him through the material of his shirt.

“Breakfast!” Rose’s voice rang out, and after a last glare Doctor Puff jumped down and made his way to the kitchen, Happy meows and purrs could be heard, as well as Rose’s sweet coos. The Doctor peered from over the back of the couch to see Doctor Puff giving him a smug look while Rose scratched behind his ears. “Have you been a good boy playing nice with the Doctor?” He was purring and looking up at her, the image of innocence. With a groan the Doctor flopped back down. Bloody cat.

The first time there was an incident, as Rose took to calling them, the Doctor had just finished with a shower, towel wrapped around his waist, and was going to grab some clean clothes that Jackie had sent over. Apparently online shopping was how Jackie relaxed after a long day of helping to save the multiverse. In a split second Doctor Puff had appeared out of thin air and latched himself onto the Doctor’s calf. Teeth and claws digging in as the Doctor screamed in surprise and pain.

Just playing Rose said as she cleaned his wounds with antiseptic, his leg propped up on her lap. Something the Doctor might have enjoyed if it weren’t for the sting of the bite and claw marks as she dabbed at them. Adjustment period she assured him. Needs some time to warm up to you she promised. If his fully time lord self thought he was full of blood and fire and revenge, well he had never met Doctor Puff.

The Doctor learned the hard way it was best not to leave things lying around, particularly on any type of cushioned surface. Doctor Puff had made it a habit of stretching his quite frankly massive form over anything the Doctor happened to leave out. He spent hours searching for his psychic paper one evening while the cat watched him from the couch, the wallet perfectly hidden underneath his furry body. Fur that got everywhere by the way. No chance of keeping his suits free of ginger fur in this place. It wasn’t until Rose was preparing dinner that he moved, and while the Doctor was able to finally find the psychic paper, Doctor Puff got to enjoy Rose’s attention while she cooked.

It only escalated from there. The Doctor had been tinkering with the toaster on the coffee table and had only left for a minute to grab some more wires when he came back to find his sonic missing. Doctor Puff had nicked it, bringing it under the bed with him to chew on. The damn cat chewed on his sonic! Which was not the only thing that was chewed on. One would think the chewing of shoes was in the domain of dogs, but oh no, Rose had already replaced his trainers a few times over before the Doctor had resorted to hiding them on a top shelf of a closet.

The Doctor had finally figured out which hair products in early 21st century alternate Earth could replace the ones he’d had on the TARDIS. His hair was all sticky uppy just the way he liked it, the way Rose liked it. But was he the one she referred to as “handsome man”? Oh no. No, it was that other Doctor, the ginger Doctor, the cat that had stolen his name, thanks again Jackie for that one, and his girl. Memories of Rose fawning over a different ginger cat during the 2012 olympics resurfaced. The more things changed, the more things stayed the same. He really should have been ginger. Maybe Rose would have fawned over him more if he had been. Why couldn’t that be what Donna passed onto him in the metacrisis. Ginger hair instead of a few vocal quirks and a strange obsession with celebrity gossip he just couldn’t quite seem to kick.

The Doctor was ecstatic the night Rose had finally asked him if he wanted to sleep in the bed with her. Fantasies of holding her while they slept, cuddling in the morning, perhaps even a lazy snog were again thwarted by the ginger demon. Instead of wrapped around Rose, the Doctor awoke on the edge of the bed, just barely keeping himself from falling off. His back twinged in discomfort as Doctor Puff pushes against him with his paws. Somehow the cat had managed to contort the Doctor into a position a yoga instructor would be proud of, that left him sore for the rest of the day. To add insult to injury it was Doctor Puff that benefited from Rose’s affection while the Doctor attempted to work out the multiple kinks in his back.

As an apology Rose went out to grab some of the banana cream filled donuts from the bakery just down the street the Doctor loved so much. After a few minutes of stretching out his sore muscles he slipped on his dressing gown with the intent to start some coffee for the two of them when Rose came back. Doctor Puff was sitting in the doorway glaring up at the Doctor, hissing whenever he got to close. Intimidation seemed the best tactic in his frustrated mind.

“I’m over nine hundred over years old. I’m a time lord meta-crisis, the only one in existence, from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I’m the Oncoming Storm. The Bringer of Darkness. Destroyer of Worlds. I’ve single handedly wiped out the Dalek empire. And...” He stopped now to level his most intimidating glare at the ginger demon, finger raised as he pointed aggressively at Doctor Puff “I will not be held hostage by a house cat.”

The oncoming storm, the bringer of darkness, the destroyer of worlds, was, in fact, held hostage by a house cat.

Tony Tyler was brilliant. Every time the Doctor visited the Tyler mansion Tony was a bright spot of sunshine. He loved the Doctor’s stories, was fascinated by his gadgets and had even said that the Doctor was his bestest friend in the whole universe. Tony Tyler was the most steadfast ally the Doctor could ask for and to say he was excited that he and Rose would be watching him for the weekend was an understatement. He even bought an entire new lego set for them to build together while Rose had to work on the backlog of paperwork that had accumulated.

“Doctor! Doctor!” Tony’s voice rang out. The Doctor stepped out into the living room, lego set in hand only to watch Tony run straight for the ginger monstrosity. His single human heart stopped, terrified of the carnage that would certainly unfold before his eyes. Except there was none. Tony gave the cat a kiss on the head and a scratch behind his ears before settling in to stroke his back. Doctor Puff was all purrs as he gave the Doctor the smuggest look a cat could possibly give.

In the end it was Tony who brokered peace. He sat on the couch, a doctor on each side, munching happily on some pieces of cheese. Taking a small piece he held it out to the cat, who happily took the treat. Noting the Doctor’s quizzical expression Tony placed another piece of cheese in the Doctor’s hand. “He likes cheese.” The expectant look Tony gave him had the Doctor carefully offering the treat to the ginger devil. Anything for Tony Tyler.

As it turned out, the way into Doctor Puff’s good graces was cheese. It was like a switch had been flipped. The offered treat turned the violent, ginger creature into a docile cuddler. What once had been the Doctor’s nemesis now was happy to curl up in his lap purring, content as could be. Long gone were the swats, hisses, and growls. Now the Doctor was equally as likely to wake up to purring and affectionate head butts as Rose was.

“Cheese.” The Doctor enthuses to Rose as they’re grocery shopping. “How many disputes could have been solved by the gifting of cheese you think?” He’s loading up the shopping cart. “Does he prefers swisss or gouda?” She rolls her eyes at him. “Yeah you’re right…” A block of cheddar is grabbed from the aisle. “Sharp, practical yet refined. A cheese for a person who knows what they’re about.” That would do just fine. “Definitely a cheddar man.” He couldn’t spend all day picking out cheese though. It was Halloween and he and Doctor Puff had matching costumes to change into.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Puff's reaction to Rose bringing home her stray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was planned as a one shot, but I couldn't resist adding Doctor Puff's side of the story.

Humans were so self centered, acting as if they alone were aware that the stars were going out. If anything they were late to the party. Had they took the time to observe a species other than themselves they might have even realized what was happening sooner. But as it was his lovely human, Rose, had been one of the first of the inferior species to realize something was off. He could tell from the moment he wandered through that open door that there was something special about her, something of the wolf. More attuned to the universal knowings that the other species, who had never traded their sense for metal gadget, read with ease. He knew that his Rose human would save the world, and she did.

It was with distaste that he regarded the strange, gangly, Doctor creature his Rose human had chosen to bring home. All awkward angles and for all he looked like the other humans, there was something different about him. He could smell it.

His Rose human introduced him by the name the Tony child had become fond of. Doctor Puff. Not the most dignified, but if it made the Tony child happy, and more apt to share cheese with him, then Doctor Puff he could be.

The gangly Doctor creature was attempting to reason with him, acting as though it was his place to decide the status of this household. Was his Rose human intending to keep this thing? There would need to be a discussion about bringing home strays. Was this one even housebroken? Regarding the manic way he seemed to bounce around, Doctor Puff gave it a fifty/fifty chance.

Well if his Rose human was going to be bringing home a stray it was imperative that he put the gangly Doctor creature in his place from the start. Doctor Puff had spent enough time on the streets to know how important these negotiations could be.

Asserting his dominance was tantamount, an easy feat as the gangly Doctor creature left himself defenseless in his sleep. Doctor Puff was able to jump up onto his chest with little trouble, not even waking him in the process. His senses were laughable. Did the gangly Doctor creature not realize what damage could be wrought as he lay sweetly sleeping. How easy it would be to go for the jugular in this position. It could be ended with a well placed swipe. But in this instance Doctor Puff would refrain from such grievous injuries. For whatever strange, misguided reason his Rose human seemed fond of her, hopefully housebroken, stray.

A swat to the face roused the gangly Doctor creature. A growl caught his attention. Doctor Puff flexed his claws just enough for him to feel the prick against his not quite human flesh. There was a promise in that movement. How easy it would be to draw blood. His Rose human called for breakfast and Doctor Puff would happily oblige. It was best the gangly Doctor creature see that he had the affection of his Rose human, and that in this household he ate first. A sure sign of dominance.

The gangly Doctor creature was obviously not taking him seriously. He had even gone so far as to displace Doctor Puff’s water bowl on his way to the bathroom. This would not stand. When the gangly Doctor creature reentered the room, foolishly leaving his legs exposed Doctor Puff saw his chance. He would do well to remember the wounds left on him that day, lest Doctor Puff felt the need to repeat the lesson.

It was humorous to watch the gangly Doctor creature search for objects he placed such value in. The way he flitted about in a manic frenzy, searching and researching, tripping over himself in his haste. After seeing the spectacle the first couple times Doctor Puff chose to hide some of the objects the gangly Doctor creature valued for entertainment.

There was one object the gangly Doctor creature seemed to value above all others. An object which also happened to be the most aggravating to Doctor Puff. He referred to it as a Sonic Screwdriver. The metallic item was easily taken when the gangly Doctor creature left it unguarded.

Doctor Puff was not pleased when his Rose human chose to offer their bed to the gangly Doctor creature. He should well know that this would not be taken lightly. As always the gangly Doctor creature left himself unguarded in sleep. It was barely a challenge to contort him into all manner of positions as he slept. Light pressure placed at strategic points had the gangly Doctor creature shifting effortlessly in his sleep. He a marionette with Doctor Puff his puppet master. Doctor Puff considered pushing him off the bed, but he did not wish to trouble himself with the disturbance that would cause.

The Rose human was the one that had something of the wolf in her, and yet it was the gangly Doctor creature who liked to huff and puff. Did he truly believe he could intimidate Doctor Puff with titles such as ‘Oncoming Storm’, ‘Bringer of Darkness’ and ‘Destroyer of Worlds’? How laughable that he would think his bluster was cause for concern, for that is what Doctor Puff saw it for. Bluster. For all his huffs and puffs the gangly Doctor creature would not be blowing this house down.

How amusing it was to watch the gangly Doctor creature sulk when his Rose human chose to place her affections on the more deserving individual. He reminded Doctor Puff of some of the birds he had hunted. Preening and puffing out his chest, in an attempt to make himself appear more impressive than he was.

Even the Tony child was aware of Doctor Puff’s superiority. Choosing to pay respect to him before the gangly Doctor creature, who was attempting to bribe him with the plastic blocks he favored. Did he truly not realize that such bribery only highlighted his inferiority. True greatness needed no convincing. There was no illusion masking the cracks and blemishes. Perhaps one day the gangly Doctor creature could finally accept his rightful place beneath him.

Doctor Puff had all but given up when the Tony child had finally shown the gangly Doctor creature the light. Teaching him, as one might train a dim witted dog, to give offerings He could pin point the moment it clicked in his head, that this was the appropriate course of action. To accept his place in the household and stop fighting for dominance.

It appears the gangly Doctor creature could be trained, and Doctor Puff planned to do just that.


End file.
